Charles michel



(No MmmV y C. MICHEL, Jr., C. KOLLEN & G. HER'I'ZG.V

Apparatus Yfor Tanning.

N0.242,954. Parenfed1une14nss1.

t t UNITED STATES PATENTA OFFICE,

CHARLES MICHEL, JR., CHARLES KoLLEN, AND CUSrAvE HERrzoe, oF

REIMS, FRANCE. I

APPARATUS FOR TANNING.

g `SIEECIIEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,954, datedJune 14, 1881.

Application tiled4 May 7, 1881. (No model.)

Toall whom it may concern.:

Be it known that we, CHARLES MICHEL, Jr., CHARLES KOLLEN, and GUsTAvEHERT- ZOG, all citizens of France, and all residing at 5 Reims, in theRepublic of France, have invented a new and useful Improved Apparatusfor Tanning, of which the following is aspeciiication.

All the improvements in the methods and I o apparatus heretoforeemployed in tanning have not enabled the problem of rapid tanning to beSolved, it being still necessary to subject the hides for months to thisprocess. Some special apparatus for accelerating the process have fromtime to time been patented, but they have not been practicallysuccessful, either because the processes were too expensive or becausethe tanned hides had not the desired qualities. zo The apparatus towhich the present invention relates obviatesthese difficulties bypermitting calf-skins to be tanned iu a few hours, and cow or ox hidesin about forty-eight hours, While at the same time affording the leatherz 5 produced allthe flexibility and firmness indispensable toa perfectproduct.

The essential objects of these apparatusare, first, to regulate at willduring the operation',

of tanning the temperature of the liquors in 3o the operating-tank andin the receptacle containing the hides to betanned; second, to regulatethe density of the liquors in the said receptacle, and also to changetheir nature, as required, for consecutive processes without interrupting the operation of the apparatus;

third, the clarifying of theliquors used in former processes in order toenable them to serve for future processes; and it is by the combinationof these means that according to the pres- 4o ent invention rapidtanning may be effected.

The accompanying drawings show the combined apparatus which we employ,Figure 1 showing a longiimdinal` section, and Fig. 2 a plan. t Itconsists of a receptacle or drum, A, a suction and force pump, B, (shownin elevation in Fig.`l,) an operating-tank, E, two filters, I I, ofwhich one is shown in elevation in Fig. l, and of reserve-tanks K L J.

The drum A, constructed of wood, revolves 5o upon a horizontal axis, itstrunnions, which are secured to its sides, as shown, being carried inbearings on standards fixed to the foundation. O11 the one trunnion isfixed a worm-wheel, A', in gear with a worm, A2, 55 driven by fast andloose pulleys, so as to cause the drum to perform about ten to fifteenrevolutions in a minute, according to the nature of the hides. The othertrunnion is hollow to allow the passage through it of two pipes, ce 6oand b, carried by a bracket. The one pipe, a,

is bent downward inside the drum, so as to descend to the lowest pointthereof and enable the liquor to be withdrawn therefrom through it bymeans of a pump, B, of any suitable construction. The second pipe, b,communicates with a reservoir, E,Which will be presently described. 'lhedrum has a double side or partition, A3, having perforations, so as toprotect the pipes a b while the drum revolves, and a 7o charging-hole,D, closed hermetically by a cover, so as to prevent any escape of liquorWhile rotating. The interior of the drum is furnished with projectionsof Wood of different lengths, so as to cause the skins to be effectu- 75 ally moved about and beaten during the opersation.

`The operating-tank E is mounted upon a raised platform, E', by whichaccess is gained all round it. It is closed with the exception 8o of anopening at top, in which is suspended a basket, E2, of wicker-Work orperforated metal, through which the liquor may be introduced.

The pump B can force the liquors ofthe drum A into the tank E by meansof the pipes d d, the liquor being made to pass through a refrigerator,F, consisting of a tubular receptacle, through which cold water is madeto flow, for which purposethe casing of the receptacle is connected by abranch pipe, j', with stop- 9o cock IL, to a pipe, g, leading to awater-supply under pressure, while the discharge is conveyed by thepipes t' and j to a discharge-channel, Gr. The liquor passing through` denters a number of small tubes in the refrigerator, so as to offer largecoolingsurfaces to the liquor in a well-known manner, and issues at theupper end into the upper pipe, d, again, leading into the tank E. On thebottoni of this tank is a worm, 7c, throughwhich steam may be passed soas to raise the liquor to a certain temperature, which is indicated by athermometer at H, and by means of a pipe, b, provided with a stop-cock,the. liquor may be allowed to pass down from the tank E into the drum Aagain. The operating-tank E may also be emptied by means of a pipe, l,having cocks m m, by opening which the liquor is discharged into liltersI I, placed over tanks J, which receive the filtered liquors, and fromwhich these can be again conveyed into the tankE by means ofthe pipe aand force-pump B.

The filters consist of a wooden receptacle having at top a tray ofperforated copper, and below this, on a perforated tray, at 0, smallpebbles or gravel, below which at I), is another tray carrying a layerof charcoal and Spanish White or otherisuitable substances, which purifyand clarify the liquor so as to renovate its tanning properties. Theseveral trays can be readily removed for cleansing purposes. If,notwithstanding this triple filtration, it should be necessary to leavethe filtered liquors quiescent, in order to clarify still more bysubsidence, cocks may be provided in the filteringtanks at differentheights for drawing off the supernatant clear liquor, as indicated at123 4.

The reserve-tanks K L J communicate on the one hand with theoperating-tank E by pipes g, and on the other hand, by pipes a, with thesuction-pipe a ofthe pump B.

The operation of tanning is carried out as follows A certain quantitysuch as from one thousand to fourteen hundred pounds weightof hides areintroduced into the drum A through the opening at D, which is thenclosed, and the drum is rotated after having been charged through thepipe b from tank E with a certain quantity of liquor composed of tanningextracts and other essences ordinarily employed in tanning, the supplybeing regulated by a cock. The liquor in the operating-tank requiring tobe maintained at a certain temperature, this is effected either byheating by means of the steam-coil k or by means of fermentation in thedrum, or, on the other hand, by cooling by the action of therefrigerator F, which can be regulated by the cocks on the cold-watersupply.

All attempts hitherto made to effect the tanning operation in arevolving drum have failed for the want of means for properly regulatingthe temperature of the interior of the drum. Leather produced by tanningat too high a temperature has no consistency, and is rigid and liable tocrack, and, even though it should possess the requisite densityftheshrinking which may always result in its use renders it practicallyuseless. If, on the other hand, the temperature is not raisedsufficiently high at the proper time, the penetration of the liquor isnot facilitated by the swelling of the hides, and it cannot be effectedafterward if the fermentation is not produced at the proper moment.

In order to observe accurately the temperature ofgthe drum, athermometer is-provided, which descends into the drum through the hollowtrunnion like the pipes a and b.

1n order to prevent undue pressure inside the drum, openings are left atthe side of the pipes a and I) in the hollow trunnion.

For eecting the various kinds of operations required in the tanningprocess we are enabled', without stopping the motion of the drum, toWithdraw therefrom by means of the pump, and discharge into the tank,the liquor that has served for a particular operation, and then to drawinto the drum from the reserve-tanks the liquor that is to serve for thenext operation heated to the requisite degree.

The hides, although previously prepared for undergoing the degree oftreatment required in the drum, may, on account of their thickness,require a more prolonged action than is otherwise advisable; and inorder to prevent fermentation under these circumstances that might behurtful, it is requisite to maintain the liquors at a determinedconstant temperature, for which purpose they may be caused by means ofthe pump to circulate continuously from the drum through therefrigerator F and tank E back into the drum again, the action of therefrigerator being regulated to any desired eX- tent by regulating thecold-water supply.

It will be evident that with this process may be used -any known solidor liquid extracts which in a very concentrated condition will not onlyoperate very powerfully, but also nourish the leather in a very uniformmanner.

- After each tanning process the liquors are caused to pass through thefilters I to be clariiied, so as to free them from fatty and otherobjectionable matters.

Having thus described the nature of our invention Aand in what manne-rthe same is to be performed, we claim- I. In apparatus for tanning, thecombination of a rotating drinn for receiving the hides and tanning-liquor, the liquor-reservoir E, refrigerator F, and suction and forcepump B, all communicating with each other through the pipes b, d, and a,for operation substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of a rotating drum, A, inwhich the hides are subjected to the action of the tanning-liquors, asuction and force pump, B, with suction-pipe b, leading into the lowerpart of the drum, and a liquortank, E, into which the liquors from thedrum are forced by the pump through a pipe, d, and refrigerator F, andfrom which they pass into the drum by a pipe, a, substantially as hereindescribed.

3. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of the rotating drum A,pump B, tank E, filter or filters I, supplied by pipes Z from tank E,and tanks J, for receiving the clarified liquors, from which they areconveyed back to the tank E and drum A by means of the pipes n a andpump B, substantially as and for the purposes described.

IZO

4. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of therotating drum A, pumpB, and tanks EJ K L, connected to pump B by pipes provided withstop-cocks, wherebyV the hides in the drum can be consecutivelysubjected to the. action ofdift'erent descriptions of tanningliquorscontained in the said several tanks,

'substantially as set forth.

5. In apparatus `for tanning, the drum A, revolving on trunnions,through oneof which inlet and outlet pipes b a enterin order to passdownward within a double side, A3, communicating with the other space ofthe drum by means of holes, so that the liquorcan be uninterruptedlywithdrawn from and intro- 1'5 two subscribing witnesses, this 11thV dayof 2o April, A. D. 1881.

CHAELEs MICHEL, Ens. CH. KCLLEN. C. ,EEETZoeE Witnesses:

JULEs DUPONT, W. BLACK.

